For the first time since the 2006 draft, a former Cape Leaguer was taken with the No. 1 overall pick. That honor went to Stanford RHP Mark Appel (Yarmouth-Dennis, ’11) this year. RHP Luke Hochevar (Cotuit, ’03) was the last former Cape Leaguer taken first overall by Kansas City in 2006. Pat Burrell (Hyannis, ’96) to the Phillies in 1998 was the most recent before Hochevar.

The Chicago Cubs followed Houston at No. 2 and took San Diego 3B Kris Bryant (Chatham, ’11), making it the first time since 2006 that the first two picks were former Cape Leaguers. No. 2 that year was Greg Reynolds (Bourne, 2004) to Colorado.

Here’s the breakdown of the 23 former Cape Leaguers with overall pick number, MLB team and Cape League team:

1. HOUSTON: Stanford RHP Mark Appel (YD, ’11)

2. CHI. CUBS: San Diego 3B Kris Bryant (Chatham, ’11)

4. MIAMI: North Carolina 3B Colin Moran (Bourne, ’11-12) — the first 2012 CCBL player taken

– Yarmouth-Dennis took the cake with five former players in the first two rounds: Appel, Anderson, Blair, Gonzalez, Thurman

– Manaea had slipped due to health concerns, but Kansas City used their competitive balance pick to nab him. Manaea had a good spring numbers-wise (5-4, 1.47 ERA, 93 Ks, 27 BBs, 73.1 IP) but those that saw him said he lost something from his summer on the Cape. If Manaea can revert to his Cape League numbers where he had a 1.21 ERA and struck out a league-high 85 (29 more than the next closest pitcher) in 51.2 innings then the Royals may have had the biggest steal.

– Manaea and Blair were two of the top pitchers last summer on the Cape and they were one pick apart in the draft

– The Yankees had some solid picks with the big bats of Jagielo and Judge. Those two could make a nice tandem for the Yankees in the future.

– Everyone will look to Appel as Houston’s big pick (and rightly so), but getting Thurman was a nice pickup. He a strong season for UC Irvine and was consistent on the Cape last summer.

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Blog Author

Meredith Perri

Cape Cod Times sports intern and recent Boston University graduate. Follow on Twitter @MeredithPerri Read Full